The Family
by AniDragon aka Riona-chan
Summary: Ax and Tobias talk after the events of book 23.


**The Family**

**By: AniDragon**

My name is Aximili-Esgarouth-Istill.

My human friends call me Ax.

At the moment, I was searching the skies for a particular one of my friends.

Tobias and I had become close since my time on earth. We were both outcasts. I, the only Andalite on Earth, and he, a human being stuck in the body of a hawk. And though I considered all of the Animorphs to be my friends, Tobias was the only one I could consider to be my _shorm_, or best friend.

I was especially worried about him right then. The day before he had needed to outsmart Visser Three, to walk right into a trap laid out for him in order to find information on his birth father.

We were not even sure if the information was true. But _something_ had drawn the Yeerks' attention to him, and we needed to know what it was.

I knew he had come out of it alive, since I had seen him fly over my scoop that night. I had called out to him, but he had told me he needed rest.

So, I knew he was alive. But I did not know if he was all right.

I finally spotted a shadow against the sunlight, which was confirmed to be Tobias when he called down to me.

«Hey, Ax-man. Are you busy?»

«No, I am not doing anything right now. You can come down, if you'd like.»

A few minutes later he swooped over my head and landed on an overhead branch.

«How are you?» I asked when he did not say anything.

«I… I'm all right, I think,» He answered, «I'm a bit shaken up, though. I didn't sleep very well.»

«Did something happen?» I asked, «Did they attack you? Did they suspect anyth—»

«No, no,» He reassured me, «Lucky for me, I forgot how to make facial expressions.»

«Then what…?»

He sighed, «I… I found out why they were so interested in me in the first place. It… turns out that my father was an Andalite_ nothlit_ who'd come to earth to escape the war.»

My eyes widened in shock, «An Andalite?»

I was shocked, but more confused. The Andalites wouldn't have been that close to Earth at the time. The only humans we even had record of back then would have been encountered through the Skrit Na.

Still… if he had been looking to hide… It probably would have been the perfect hiding place before the Yeerks arrived.

«Yeah,» He answered, oblivious to my thoughts, «And here's the funny thing. He was offered a chance to go back to it all. To regain his Andalite body and do his duty.»

«But how…» I was about to ask, before the answer came to me, «The Ellimist, I assume…»

He laughed, «Who else? The whole thing has "Ellimist" written all over it.»

«So he went back?» I asked, «Is that why he left?»

«Yeah,» Tobias answered, «He realised that Earth wouldn't be safe forever. He went back to the war to try and keep it safe. For my mother and me, I guess. Or for all of humanity.»

It was a moving story. And it did in fact explain why the Yeerks would have been interested in Tobias. Perhaps they worried that his father had warned him of the Yeerks.

«Um… There's more,» Tobias sounded awkward as he continued. He started preening his feathers, which he had a habit of doing when he was nervous, «There's something that… well… Something that _you_ should know. That you should be the _first_ to know. I haven't told anyone else this part, yet, not even Rachel.»

I waited, as he seemed to struggle to find his words.

«Tobias?» I asked gently when he didn't say anything for a moment.

«Ax, it was Elfangor.»

I turned all four eyes to stare at him, «What?»

«My father,» He clarified, though I had understood immediately, «Is your brother, Elfangor.»

My mind was racing at this information. Elfangor had… disappeared for a few years, before I was born. He'd never spoken of his time away, and no one had pressed him for the information. Could it have been then that he'd run away to Earth? That he'd fallen in love with a human woman?

«You know…» Tobias continued, «When I met him, that night at the construction site… I felt… something. Some type of connection. At the time, I thought it could have been anything, but looking back, now… Is it weird to think that I might have recognised him? Even subconsciously?»

«No, of course not,» I said, «It is not strange at all. A family connection is deep, after all. And I suppose… that this would make _us_ family, as well.»

«Sort of,» He agreed, «Well… Biologically, I guess not. I mean, I don't think I have any Andalite DNA in me… But…»

«We are family in all the ways that count,» I concluded, smiling at him.

«Yeah,» He agreed, «Yeah, we are.»


End file.
